Lycée Barthelemy Boganda is a public high school situated in Bangui.[2] The school is named after Barthelemy Boganda.[3]
History
Lycée Barthelemy Boganda building was constructed on 17 May 1952 and inaugurated on 23 January 1954 by Pierre Chauvet with the name Collège Emil Gentil. In 1968, the school was renamed to Lycée Barthelemy Boganda.[4]
Ecobank Centrafrique donated computers and laboratory equipment worth $11 million to Lycée Barthelemy Boganda on 6 February 2009.[5] The school underwent renovation in 2011, resulting in new classrooms and a rehabilitated sanitary block.[6]
A quarrel between Lycée Barthelemy Boganda and Lycée Gobongo students outside the school ensued on 1 February 2013, causing traffic disruption on the road in front of the school. The squabble stemmed from some of the Boganda students accusing Gobongo students of not cleaning the courtyard, and some of the Boganda's buildings were leased to Gobongo. The gendarmerie and police arrived at the location and disbursed the fight by firing warning shots and throwing tear gas, leading some students to get injured due to the trampling from the other pupils who fled due to the gunfire.[7] The fight was soon resolved.[8]
Due to the Seleka takeover of Bangui, Lycée Barthelemy Boganda was temporarily closed and the militias occupied the school.[9] Class learning resumed on 6 May 2013, although fewer students were present.[10] Upon the fall of Seleka Government, an unknown group looted and vandalized the school. In response to this situation, the school principal asked Anti-balaka to guard the school, and they promised to do so.[11]
The 3rd-grade students organized a demonstration demanding clarification on the list of candidates for the Baccalaureate Certificate and the removal of the principal, Martin Pounouwaka. Soon, the demonstration ended, and the principal released the candidate lists.[12]
In 2018, there was a call to rehabilitate Lycée Barthelemy Boganda as the school was in poor condition which might harm the students and teachers.[13]
In April 2019, Lycée Barthelemy Boganda was chosen as the pilot project for Russian language teaching.[14]
A group of students held a strike by blocking the Independence Avenue road to express their discontent with the teacher shortage in their school on 8 February 2022.[15]
The school's basketball court was built with funds from France and was inaugurated on 17 December 2021.[16]BGFIBank Group rehabilitated the laboratory and donated the lab's equipment to the school on 21 September 2023 during the ceremony.[4]
In October 2023, the school was in a dire situation. The school's walls were cracked, whereas the desks, benches, and blackboards were broken. Furthermore, the school classes were dirty, cobwebs were ubiquitous, and windows and doors were lost.[17] Touadéra announced the rehabilitation of the school during his visit to the school on 3 November 2023.[18] In January 2024, the school was renovated.[19]
School life
Lycée Barthelemy Boganda has approximately 12,000 students and 155 teachers.[4]
Reputation
The school is renowned for its excellence and for producing alumni who become national leaders.[20][21]
Fidèle Gouandjika, Minister of Rural Development and Agriculture (2009–2013) and Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and New Technology (2005–2009).[24]
Bradshaw, Richard; Rius, Juan Fandos (2016). Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic (Historical Dictionaries of Africa). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
